Biography
Ritchie & the Runarounds was a short-lived lineup that brought together Kripp Johnson, Lou Christie, and the girl group the Tammys. The act issued a lone 45 on Ascot in 1963, pairing “Don'tcha Backtrack” with “Lost in the Crowd.” Johnson, who had previously sung with the Del Vikings, handles lead vocals on both tracks, each of them co-written by Christie and his regular collaborator Twyla Herbert. The B-side offers a standard, somewhat lackluster specimen of the early-’60s style that linked doo-wop harmonies to emerging teen-idol fare, whereas the A-side delivers a brisk, energetic pop-rock number that lacks a strong melodic hook or distinctive character to separate it from countless contemporaneous releases. Both recordings later appeared on Egyptian Shumba, RPM’s anthology of Christie and the Tammys material recorded between 1962 and 1964.
Singles